ET deals: $300 off Dell XPS 14 ultrabook with Nvidia 630M graphics

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Normally when we talk about ultrabooks, they are all eerily similar. Under an inch thick, 13-inch screen, silver aluminum chassis, and priced from $600-800. They are great PCs for the average user, but you could put a picture of each model from the top manufacturers next to one another and have a hard time telling them apart.

Dell has several of these models, but they did attempt to go above and beyond with their XPS line of ultrabooks. The XPS 14, along with its smaller XPS 13 sibling, take a higher road than just being the run-of-the-mill MacBook copies. The machined aluminum chassis uses a silicon base and soft touch paint for both added durability and a truly premium feel.

Built around a larger-than-average 14-inch display, the XPS 14 covers its LCD with Gorilla Glass for added durability, something you won’t find in most ultrabooks. We especially like that the display offers a best-in-class 1600×900 resolution, along with a high 400 nit brightness rating.

The keyboard is the ubiquitous island-style, but features a no-cost LED backlight and spill-resistant design. If you haven’t used a backlit keyboard yet and ever plan on typing in even low light, you are missing out on one of the neatest features to come to PCs in the 21st century.

The model on sale today is powered by a third generation Core i5-3317U, which sports dual cores that clock between 1.7GHz and 2.6GHz, offering a careful trade-off between performance and battery life. You also get NVIDIA graphics with Optimus technology, seamlessly switching between the integrated HD 4000 chip and the powerful GeForce GT 630M 1GB GPU.

Like all ultrabooks, you get a standard mSATA SSD in 32GB capacity alongside a 500GB spinning hard drive for a nice combination of performance and capacity. It’s hard to argue against a resume-from-sleep time of less than 2 seconds, allowing for near instant access to your PC. All the other usual features we’ve come to expect in ultrabooks are included as well, like 802.11n WiFi, HD webcam, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 3.0, HDMI, and Mini DisplayPort video output.

Normally premium ultrabooks run well over $1,000, with this model retailing for a hefty $1,199, but we’ve got a rare $300 coupon that makes the XPS 14 a really competitive value. While you might find a slightly faster Core i7 ultrabook in this price range, it won’t have the premium design and standard features Dell offers here. You also get 1 year of on-site warranty service and 24×7 premium phone support, something not included by any other manufacturer.

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The MacBook Air and ThinkPad T431s (April release, $999) are both better laptops. They’re lighter, they have higher reliability scores (PCMag Reader’s Choice), and they’re about the same price, especially if you add 2-year warranty support.

Dell computers just don’t justify their premium price. For 10 years, Dell customer support has been terrible. Plus, Dell computers are not well built, so you are likely to experience their brain-dead, off-shore customer support.

Better to read PCMag’s yearly reliability and customer choice reports to find computer manufacturers that make high-quality products. Buy one of their computers, rather than this seemly good deal and then regret it for two years.

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